New tires are expensive. As a result, replacing and maintaining tires can be an economic burden for companies and individuals who manage a large fleet of vehicles or otherwise place excessive wear on their tires. Replacing tires can also be a burden for those of modest means. As a result, it is becoming increasingly important to repair damaged tires rather than replace them with new tires. Repairing a damaged tire is usually very simple and inexpensive, especially repairing simple holes or objects that become embedded in the treaded portion of the tire.
Diagnosis is the first step in repairing a damaged or flawed tire. It is necessary to ascertain if any foreign objects are embedded in the tread portion of the tire or if any cracks, fissures, or holes exist therein. If such defects are found to exist, the tire can be repaired. If the defect is not found, the tire must be replaced.
There are several existing techniques for inspecting a tire. One such technique is visual inspection. Visual inspection consists of rotating a tire on a mounting stand, while an inspector visually observes the tread portion of the tire as it passes beneath his gaze. Visual inspection of a tire tends to be slow and time consuming. More importantly, however, this method for searching for defects is, at best, unreliable. This is because some defects are so minute that they escape the detection of even a trained, experienced observer. Even these undetected defects can weaken the tire and become a hazard to vehicles operating at high rates of speed.
In an attempt to solve some of the problems inherent in visual inspection, other types of testing techniques have been devised. One such method involves over inflating a tire and either immersing the tire in a fluid or applying a fluid to the outer surface thereof. A leak of air through an orifice or fissure can be detected visually more readily by the observation of a bubbling effect, which will occur at the location of the defect. This method, however, will not detect defects other than well defined holes that pass all the way through the treaded portion of a tire.
More complex systems for detecting tire defects also exist. In one such system, the tread portion of a tire is sandwiched between a pair of electrodes across which a high voltage electrical potential is generated. With this system, if objects such as nails are embedded in the tread portion of the tire or if defects such as orifices or fissures exist, the voltage applied across the electrodes will cause arcing at the point of foreign object or defect. To inspect the complete tire, an inspection device typically rotates the tire such that the tread portion passes between the electrodes. An electronics package generally is included in conjunction with the electrodes, and can stop rotation of the tire and actuate an alarm once a defect is detected by arcing across the electrodes. Pinpointing the location of the defect is, thereby, facilitated.
However, even with existing systems, only a general location of the flaw in the tire determined. Additional information about the type of defect or number of defects in the tire or a series of tires could be helpful in repairing tires, as well as identifying a source of the flaw.
Furthermore, each of these tire inspection systems have limited capabilities and only detect the presence or absence of certain types of defects. These inspection systems cannot detect any characteristics or the nature of the flaw itself. Nor can the systems record related statistical information.